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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v GIANTSOctober 30, 2010Ron WashingtonARLINGTON, TEXAS: Game Three Q. How important is it to you to get your lineup continuity back, get guys in positions where they're more comfortable? RON WASHINGTON: Well, it's what we've been all year. Just one game in San Francisco we ended up having to get out of that continuity. But that's what we've tried to maintain all year, and it's just nice to be back home, be in friendly surroundings, be around our fans, be around the people we know love us the most. Now we've just got to go out there and get us a win. Q. Speaking of trying to get the win, knowing that 3-0 means that you almost basically are against some really serious odds of coming back, how are the guys loose and not too tight knowing they need this victory? RON WASHINGTON: Well, they understand that. The way you get it is just go out there and play your game, do what the game asks you to do as an individual and not try to be a hero. You know, we certainly need Colby to go out there and just command the baseball and pitch his type of game. That's where it starts. We need to catch the ball and get the outs we're supposed to get, and we need to execute the fundamentals when they present themselves. And if we can do those three things, something that we can do very well, that eliminates any tension of feeling that it's the end of the world if things don't happen, because if we can do that, things will happen. We didn't win a ballgame in San Francisco, but I'll tell you, we certainly had some chances to do some good things, and we just didn't do it. If they present themselves tonight and we do it, all of that falls into place, and the relaxation, it'll take care of itself. Q. In Hunter's two post-season starts has he been getting too much of the plate? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I don't know if he's been getting too much of the plate as he just hasn't been getting the ball down. When he can keep the ball down, he's better. When he can throw his breaking ball and use the bottom part of the strike zone and when he can bury that breaking pitch in certain counts, he's most effective. Just a few times he may have tried to bury it and he left it. Those are the things that will affect Tommy. Other than that, he definitely has the stuff to get through that lineup. He's got a cutter, changeup, curveball and he can spot his fastball, and he's a competitor. So he's definitely got the stuff, he's just got to keep it down. It's not so much getting too much of the plate, just keep it down. Q. Hunter obviously will be pitching in a big game whatever happens. What are your thoughts on him as a guy pitching in a pressure situation? RON WASHINGTON: Well, you know, he talks about Alabama a lot. I don't know what Alabama has to do with anything (laughter), but he's a competitor. He will be out there competing. He will try to make the adjustments that he's supposed to make. He wants the ball. He's everything that you would like out there on the mound, and if he can go out there and execute it, we'll be very happy. We've been very happy with Tommy so far. So he doesn't have to be perfect because there's no perfection in this game. But he just has to limit the damage. Q. What does it mean to have this really historical occasion here playing the first Rangers' World Series game here in Texas? RON WASHINGTON: Well, it means everything to everyone in Texas, not only this organization but the fans, even the players, myself, the coaching staff, ownership. It means everything. But it doesn't mean everything to the point where we feel any pressure. We've been playing baseball, many of us, for a long time. And we just have to go out there and play baseball and give these fans something to make sure that they can hold on. And what that is, we've got to get a win, there's no doubt about it. We've got to get a win. We get a win, I think everyone will be happy and I think everyone will relax and we can start playing baseball the way we know we can. So it means everything. They're not coming here tonight to watch us go out there and lose another ballgame, and we certainly didn't show up tonight to do that, either. Hopefully we can have everyone leaving here smiling and can't wait to get back tomorrow. Q. Along those same lines, have you talked to the guys, especially younger guys, about how even though everything in a World Series is magnified to the Nth degree that it's still the same game and they need to play free and without concern about making mistakes? RON WASHINGTON: Every single day. That's the one thing I do pound all the time is not being concerned about things you can't control, only being concerned about the things you can. Just playing the game. That's the only way you can be relaxed. I talked to them about that at the beginning of the series, and we talk to them about that every single day when we're in our meetings, just about being relaxed and trusting your teammates, trusting your ability, only doing what you're capable of doing. So we're covering all of that. But you know, when the game starts, it's on them. They have to go between the lines and they have to see what the game is asking them to do and just execute it. Our guys are relaxed. But we have to go out there and put something together so those types of things won't creep in. Q. Two-part question on Nolan Ryan: We see a lot of him around here throughout the whole series. As a manager how nice is it to have a resource around like Nolan Ryan? And how huge was he during the whole bankruptcy issues and keeping everything even-keel around here? RON WASHINGTON: Well, number one, to answer the first part of it, it's huge having his credibility. When Nolan speaks, you listen. He's been there, he's done that. He's a matter-of-fact guy, so there's no secrets about what he wants you to understand what he's saying. There isn't any secrets, and I love that. When the bankruptcy was going on, he and Jon Daniels did an excellent job really of keeping it away from us. They kept everything on the outside. At no time did they allow it to creep into the clubhouse. If anything crept into that clubhouse it was because of something the players may have read. But they did a great job of keeping it away. And that's why my guys were able to stay focused through it all, because we never had to deal with it. Anytime anything came up with it, it was because someone mentioned it, it wasn't because it was floating in that clubhouse or because Jon or Nolan brought it down. Nolan is a very smart guy. He's a solid baseball man. It's nice that when you have problems that you can go and talk to him, and he always has an angle for everything. He was a pitcher, but he has an angle for everything about the game. And as I said earlier, when he speaks, you listen. Q. Sorry to throw a hypothetical at you, but we're talking a lot about Hunter. If you were to lose today, is there a chance that Cliff Lee goes for you in Game 4? RON WASHINGTON: Well, there's a chance that anything could happen. But as I said, really the only thing that I'm thinking about right now is Colby Lewis tonight. That hypothetical, we'll deal with it if it happens. Q. Feliz has gone seven days without being on the mound. Could you extend him for four outs or five outs if you needed that today? RON WASHINGTON: Without a doubt. At some point we will have to get him in the game tonight. At some point. And I'm hoping it's in the ninth inning to close the ballgame down. But we certainly have to get him in the game, and we will get him into the game tonight one way or the other. Q. Have you noticed any of your players just a little tense in the first two games? And then just coming home can you talk about maybe a more relaxed atmosphere for them, but also your record in the playoffs you've won more on the road than you have here in Arlington. RON WASHINGTON: Well, I really didn't see them tense in that first game. I thought we came out and we was able to do some things we wanted to do, and then when we started making a few mistakes, I think we may have tried to do some things a little bit outside of ourselves. The second game, it was all Matt Cain. He was good. He was very good. When we did get an opportunity to do something against him, he squashed it. It's their first time in a World Series. I won't say that they maybe wasn't a little anxious, but it certainly didn't have anything to do with what happened to us in San Francisco. They just shut us down with their pitching. They did. End of FastScripts |
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